I’m having a bit of reading despair after the last book I finished (it’s not reviewed and I’m not going to mention a title because I just can not summon the energy to talk about it – that’s how apathetic I am about it) made me want to agree with this article and this one. And that depresses me so much because I want to find joy in the well publicized, mainstream contemporary novel. I want them to entertain me and surprise me and I don’t want to be dreading what I might find between the covers if I let myself be enticed by a back cover blurb.
I love the books from indie publishers and the underground, underappreciated novels and I wish they got more press, but at the same time I don’t want to have to despair of the books that do get that hype. Yet more and more I find myself not just underwhelmed by the adult books that get massive potions of book press, but flung into a powerful reading funk where one minute I want to picket Waterstones and the next I just want to lie in my bed staring blankly at the wall.
I know I sound harsh, Susan Hill would hate me right now, and this one book can not take all the blame for my alternate rage and apathy. It’s just the most recent in a long line of unimpressive books, pushed to the forefront of the book world because it’s got something to do with the latest reading trend that publisher’s have identified. They all sound genuinely interesting and even though I know better I’m intrigued, I grab them, I try them, I make it to the end but I just don’t care.
The writing is fine, often it’s even competent and good. I can’t explain what causes me to feel this intense lethargy towards these novels because it’s a combination of many things and these things combine in a different way in each novel and each novel might also contain some different successful elements. Yes some of them lack of insight, some do not meet their overly ambitious targets despite being quite long books, some do not do much new with narrative structure (or if they do then it does not come off successfully). It is all of these things that I dislike, but it is also none of these things individually that inspire my uncertainty and my teeth grinding. Some of my favorite books have linear narratives, I fall in love with books that fall short in some ways because they are special in other ways.
My gut feeling is that the kind of hyped up novels that inspire nothing but indifference in me lack that spark. They contain a complex mix of good and bad ingredients just like other books, but in the end they don’t do anything with these ingredients – they present them, they push them about a bit but really they’re just going through the motions of what a novel should be unmotivated by that essential, illusive element that would make them alive. Mostly these books feel unfinished, half formed and I think another good long stint of reworking would probably reshape them into books that live up to the promise of their blurbs.
Opinions, views – want me to get up from my bed and stop being so negative? Leave me inspiring comments to keep me out of that coma-like, wall staring trance.
7 comments:
Life is too short to read books you know you won't enjoy! I think it's fine to grab a book that sounds interesting, realise you are not entirely sold on it and abandon it. I used to persevere but I just don't bother any more.
I'd suggest a visit to an author or genre you know you enjoy and read! I'm currently in the throes of a slightly shameful regency romance phase but it's so enjoyable that I don't really care that it's not challenging or "good" literature. Just Fun!
I have started doing that (but I still feel some sort of crazy guilt). I actually gave away two books in a series without reading them because I didn't enjoy the first one - big step for me!
With this book it wasn't so much that I didn't like it, I mean I didn't hate it. It just inspired no feeling at all in me. I don't like to say that it was a worthless experience, because it did throw up some subject areas that I'd love to look into, but it was mostly a bust.
Thanks for the suggestion - that's what the Joyce Carol Oates book is for, but I'm not sure it's such a great holiday choice in the end. So I think I'll save that until I get back and maybe re-read 'Looking for Alaska' or 'Boy Meets Girl' (again).
Regency romances are awesome and y'know full of history. Can I suggets you pick up 'Indiscretion' by Jude Morgan because it is so much fun!
I've been so lazy this week. I'm reading just not in the mood to do reviews :)
And, I'm with Peta... If a book isn't grabbing you, set it aside and move on to another one. I sometimes go back to a book thinking maybe it was just wrong time and sometimes it works out. Hope your next reads are more exciting!
Iliana that works for me too and I'm glad it does, I'd hate to have to write off a book after the first few pages. I'm re-reading 'Empress of the World' right now, which is a wonderful YA novel about smart teens finding love - review when I get back from holiday but right now the hot weather is making me lazy too ;).
I know exactly what you mean, books that are solid but are forgettable.There's not much that's special about them. Re-reading old favorites may just be the cure for now.Good luck.
-Vasilly
I've been on a string of really great (to me, and also hyped, maybe) that I'm taking a break and haven't a clue what I want to read next. I'm also apathetic about reviewing them, but I'll attempt a short blurb just to get them over with. But I really did enjoy the reading! sigh...
Best to you in your next reading adventure. :)
Classicvassily - Yes solid but forgettable that seems to be the problem with a lot of them. Some of these kind of books I really enjoy, although I know they're not going to make a lasting contribution to my reading life. However some of them just make me angry, it's unpredictable which way it's going to go at the moment.
Care - Glad to hear you've found great books to read, sometimes (eg 'The Tenderness of Wolves') books earn their hype, but sometimes I think praise is too easily given. You'll be glad to know that holiday reading has restored me somewhat.
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